Pancit Bihon

For those of you who don't know, I'm 1/4 Filipino and one of my favorite foods growing up was pancit bihon.  Since I learned by watching, I've never actually had a recipe or measured anything.  But I've had a ton of friends and family ask for the recipe, so here is my approximation of what I do.

P.S. - I make a ton since everyone always wants seconds and I usually have company when I serve this, so if you're cooking for a smaller group you may want to scale it down a bit.


Here's what you'll need:

2 packages of thin rice noodles
Chicken stock (a pot full)
1 lb of pork, cut into small thin slices
1 lb of chicken, cut into small thin slices
1/2 lb medium sized shrimp, deveined and tails removed (I also cut mine in half)
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 cup of carrots, julienned
1/2 cup of celery, diced
2 cups cabbage, shredded
Scallions
Adobo seasoning
Soy sauce
Patis (optional)
Cooking oil

1) Bring the chicken stock to a low boil, once it's boiling remove it from the heat for about 5-10 minutes.  Once it's cooled down bit, submerge the rice noodles until soft.  This shouldn't take more than 10-12 minutes.  Once they're soft remove them from stock and set aside.  Keep the stock, you'll need it later.

2) Over medium heat, in a large skillet or wok, add chicken, pork, shrimp, onions and garlic.  Lightly coat with oil and add soy sauce, adobo and patis at this time.  (Note: patis is strong, a little goes a long way)

3) When mixture is almost fully cooked, add carrots and celery.  I add these at this point so they don't get overly mushy, but if you like you like them softer you can always add them in step 2 instead.  Continue cooking for another 2-5 minutes.  If there is extra oil/liquid, I drain MOST of it at this point, but you want to keep enough liquid to cover the bottom of the pan.

3) Return wok to burner and turn heat to low.  Add the cabbage and softened pancit noodles at this time.  I also usually add more soy sauce and patis here too.  Mix well.  Cover with lid and cook another 15-20 minutes.  Stir and add more liquid (I use the stock from step 1) as needed.

4) Serve and garnish with scallions.  Some people also like to squeeze lemon juice on it too.

One of the fun things about pancit is that it doesn't have to be the same each time.  I play with this recipe often.  Today I didn't have shrimp so that was omitted.
I hope you enjoy making and customizing this for you and your family!

Pumpkin Sauce and Pork-chop Lion

Today's fun food was made to look like a lion.  It was also grain-free and dairy-free.

To make the lion's mane I used Ancient Harvest Quinoa veggie curls.  Follow the instructions on the back of the box precisely, I boiled mine for a couple minutes longer than suggested and they came out a little softer than I would have preferred.

The pumpkin sauce contained:

Pumpkin puree - 1 (15 oz.) can

Chicken stock - 2/3 c.

Coconut milk - 1/2 c.

White onion - 1/2 medium onion, chopped

Kale - hand full, finely chopped

Salt - 1 tsp.

Pepper - 1/2 tsp

Curry spice blend (cardamom, ground tumeric, ground cumin, coriander, chili powder) - 1 tbsp

Pumpkin spice blend (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, all spice) - 1 tsp.

Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan and cook over medium heat until it bubbles.  Be sure to stir often to avoid burning the bottom.

While I made the sauce I had these cooking.  Boneless pork-chops, seasoned and popped into the oven at 350 degrees F for about 30-45 minutes.

To make the lion, I put the pasta and sauce on the plate first and topped it with a pork chop face.  I also used two small pieces of pork chop for the ears.  The details on the face were made with green, yellow and red pepper (eyes, mouth and whiskers), an almond (nose), black beans (pupils), and a cauliflower (muzzle).

We ate our lions with a side of "Jungle Leaves" (aka. kale chips), recipe here.